Tornado Watch Extended For Chicago Area

ILLINOIS — A tornado watch in effect for much of the Chicago area, including Will, Cook and DuPage counties, has been extended until 10 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service said. Several severe thunderstorm warnings for the Chicago area have expired, but the potential for severe weather continues Saturday night, with another line of storms expected to arrive around 8 p.m.

The tornado watch area includes Bolingbrook, Chicago, Downers Grove, Evanston, Joliet, Lemont, Naperville, Oak Lawn, Orland Park and Wheaton.

Earlier Saturday, NWS said there are a "few tornadoes likely." The second round of storms could bring damaging winds and quarter-sized hail. The severe weather threat is expected to diminish once the second line of storms clears the area.

Sunday is expected to be cooler and breezy, with a high near 58 degrees and wind gusts up to 30 mph.

ComEd prepares for storms

With severe weather on its way, ComEd said it is preparing to respond to power outages across the Chicago area.

“We are positioning our people and equipment to respond quickly and safely to any power outages that result from this storm,” Terence Donnelly, president and COO of ComEd, said in a statement. “We continue to make investments to harden the power grid and improve resilience to reduce the impacts a storm like this can have on our customers.”